The Basilisk
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To create a native Vaal species that adds ecological depth to the planet's lore, explains natural tunnel systems in the Skyspire Range, and ties into the history and engineering of the Phrik mines.
Image Credit: Midjourney
Canon: Vaal
Permissions: N/A
Links: Vaal,
Adonis Angelis IV
GENERAL INFORMATION
Name: Vaaldredge
Designation: Non-sentient
Origins: Vaal
Average Lifespan: Workers: 12–15 standard years; Queens: up to 50 standard years
Estimated Population: Planetary- concentrated in Vaal's major mountain ranges, rare elsewhere
Description: The Vaaldredge are large, subterranean insectoids specialized for tunneling through rock and mineral veins. Measuring around 1.5 meters in length, they are heavily muscled and covered in metallic-flecked chitin. Known for their ability to chew through even the densest ore, they secrete a resin that hardens into a ceramic-like support structure, allowing them to create vast and stable tunnel networks over time. These natural engineering feats inspired the human-built designs of Vaal's modern Phrik mines.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Breathes: Type I (Standard Atmosphere)
Average Height of Adults: 0.8–1 meter at the shoulder
Average Length of Adults: 1.5 meters
Skin color: Gunmetal gray chitin with metallic mineral flecks; resin-secreting glands along abdomen are pale amber
Hair color: N/A
Distinctions:
Races: None formally recognized — minor morphological variation between colonies
Force Sensitivity: Non-Sensitive
- Powerful, spade-shaped forelimbs for breaking rock
- Serrated mandibles capable of cutting ore veins
- Resin glands in abdomen produce a hard, ceramic-like material used to reinforce tunnels
- Compound eyes adapted to low-light environments
- Segmented body with heavy plating for protection against predators and cave-ins
- Worker, soldier, and queen castes with distinct size and morphology
- Exceptional tunneling ability, able to dig through dense mineral-rich rock
- Resin secretion creates extremely stable, long-lasting tunnel supports, often copied by human engineers
- Poor eyesight; rely heavily on antennae and vibrations, making them vulnerable to sonic weapons
- Aggressive when defending colonies, making coexistence with settlements difficult
Diet: Primarily subterranean fungi, lichen, and mineral deposits; require trace metals in their diet for chitin growth
Communication: Seismic vibrations through rock, chemical pheromones within colonies
Technology level: N/A
Religion/Beliefs: N/A, however, Vaal's clans attribute spiritual significance to their tunnel-building
General behavior:
Vaaldredge colonies are organized around a single queen and divided into specialized castes. Workers dig and maintain tunnels, soldiers guard entrances, and brood tenders care for eggs and larvae in central chambers. Colonies expand slowly, excavating layer after layer over decades, and abandoned tunnels often become lairs for other wildlife. They are primarily subterranean but may surface during the dry season to forage, a behavior that sometimes leads to conflicts with citizens.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Vaaldredge have been part of Vaal's ecosystem for thousands of years, their colonies shaping the internal geography of the Skyspire Range. Long before industrial mining, local clans avoided the deep mountains during breeding cycles, as swarms of workers could destabilize surface rock. The hardened resin-lined tunnels they left behind often became natural shelters or hidden routes for hunters.
When Phrik ore was discovered in the Skyspire Range less than a century ago, xenobiologists studying the Vaaldredge recognized that their tunnel structures were remarkably stable. Mining engineers adapted these principles, allowing human-built shafts to reach far deeper into the mountains without collapse. This "bio-engineering" approach became the foundation for the modern Skyspire Veins mine.
Though colonies near mining operations are often culled for safety, some government overseers see value in coexisting, harvesting resin for industrial use and mapping out Vaaldredge-dug routes to reach new ore deposits. To the people of Vaal, they remain both a nuisance and a symbol: living proof that even the hardest stone can be shaped over time.